Miliband hints UK will not pay Somali pirates $25m ransom for safe return of Sirius Star ship and British crew

Somali pirates who hijacked the Saudi oil supertanker the Sirius Star are reported to have demanded a ransom of $25million (£17million) for the safe return of the ship and its crew of 25, including two Britons.

But today Foreign Secretary David Miliband signalled the UK will not pay the ransom, saying such payments only encourage hostage-taking.

Reports say the owners of the ship have been given a 10-day deadline to hand over the ransom.

'We do not want long-term discussions to resolve the matter', a representative of the pirates, Mohamed Said, told AFP.

'The Saudis have 10 days to comply, otherwise we will take action that could be disastrous,' he added.

Hijacked: The MV Sirius Star is seen at anchor off the coast of Somalia in this U.S. Navy handout

Speaking to reporters, Mr Miliband said the international community must 'stand firm' against hostage-taking in all its forms.

But he insisted that making payments in return for the release of hostages would only encourage further such incidents.

Mr Miliband said he was 'extremely concerned' by the situation but added that he could not comment on specific negotiations.

He said: 'There is a strong view of the British Government, and actually the international community, that payments for hostage-taking are only an encouragement to further hostage-taking and we will be approaching this issue in a very delicate way, in a way that puts the security and safety of the hostages to the fore.'

Super big tanker: Never before have Somali pirates seized such a giant ship so far out to sea

The Sirius Star, which cost £65million, is the biggest ship ever taken and negotiations are likely to be long and complex.

It is loaded with two million barrels of crude oil worth £67million.

No hostages taken by the pirates have ever been harmed and the names of the Britons emerged as Mr Miliband said an European military initiative to 'disrupt and to tackle the scourge of piracy' would be commanded from a Royal Navy ship in the region.

The HMS Cumberland, which recently killed two pirates, is currently off East Africa together with warships from the U.S., France, Russia and India.

The Navy is also to be given powers that will allow officers to board ships in international waters.

The Transport Security Bill is almost certain to be part of the legislative programme in the next session of Parliament.

According to official documents, it will permit ' enforcement officers' - members of the Royal Navy - to board and detain ships, search for and seize evidence and make arrests.

The latest drama in the perilous stretch of water came as Somali pirates who captured a Saudi supertanker narrowly failed in hijacking a British ship.

The British tanker Trafalgar was suddenly surrounded in the Gulf of Aden by at least eight speedboats.

It was rescued when the German frigate Karlsruhe on patrol 12 miles away sent a helicopter to scare off the pirates who fled at high speed.

But nothing compares with the daring hijacking of the 318,000-ton Sirius Star, three times the size of an aircraft carrier, which was boarded 450 nautical miles southeast of Kenya's Mombasa port, way beyond the range of previous attacks.

Andrew Mwangura, co-ordinator of the East African Seafarers' Association, which monitors piracy in the region, said : 'The world has never seen anything like this ... The Somali pirates have hit the jackpot.'

There are fears the hijackings will send oil prices soaring as carriers have to take a longer and safer course around the Cape of Good Hope and the southern tip of Africa, adding an average of two weeks and millions of pounds to the journey.

About 13 per cent of Middle East oil and gas passes the Somali coast and insurance costs have risen tenfold as a result of piracy in the eastern Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.